Rabbi Ovadia’s Sparkling Eyes: A Blessing for the Future of Torah

"In Nissan 5771 (2011), a year and a half before his passing, we had the privilege of accompanying my father and teacher, Rabbi Ben Zion HaCohen Kook, to visit Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef at his home on 45 Hakablan Street," recounts Shlomo Kook, editor of Bekehila.

"During both the halachic discussion and the warm, heartfelt conversation, in which Maran spoke about the deep family connection between our families, I was amazed by how warmly he related to each one of us. His voice was full of emotion, it was the voice of someone who truly loved Torah and was overjoyed to see the next generation growing up with it," Kook recalls with deep feeling.

"Then my younger brother, Moti, approached him. The Rabbi's eyes lit up with joy. This wasn’t his grandson, nor his student, nor someone who followed his halachic rulings. It wasn’t even a young Sephardic Torah student. It was an Ashkenazi yeshiva student from a small yeshiva. But for Chacham Ovadia, this was enough to bring great delight. Standing before him was a young man learning Torah and he was one of the greatest lovers of Torah in the generation.

"'May you rise higher and higher in Torah,' the Rabbi blessed him warmly, and added in a sweet and affectionate tone, gently patting him: 'Study much Torah. What becomes of someone who doesn’t learn? He becomes ignorant. But one who is diligent in Torah study? He becomes a Torah scholar.' And then he added, with joy: 'We will rejoice in you!'

"Did you hear that?" Kook asks, still amazed. "The greatest Torah sage of our generation tells a student he doesn’t even know: 'We will rejoice in you!' Meaning if you continue learning Torah and become a true Torah scholar, that will bring me personal joy."

"These are two incredible traits, which are really one and the same: an overflowing love for Torah and a boundless love for the Jewish people unlike anything we’ve seen in recent generations. A love for Torah, for every letter, every nuance, from early leaders to later ones. And a love for every Jew, especially a child or student who is part of the Torah world," Kook reflects on his moving visit to the home of the generation’s great leader.

"The Rabbi climbed a ladder to retrieve a book and forgot to come down"

"Four years have passed since the passing of Maran, the author of Yabia Omer. The emptiness he left behind is felt every single day. Just days after his historic funeral procession, I found myself walking into a small basement on David Yellin Street in Jerusalem. Inside was Rabbi Eliyahu Shitrit, Maran’s longtime printer, sitting in his study, tears streaming down his face.

"‘The eyes are the most important part of the body,’ he said sadly. ‘The Rabbi was like the eyes of the whole Jewish world. And now… now we’re walking in darkness, like people who can’t see. Everyone is mourning, but for me the pain is even deeper. I sat with the Rabbi for at least ten hours every day.’"

"The walls were lined with bookshelves. The most prominent ones held 55 sefarim (Jewish books) with burgundy covers. These were Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s books. Eighteen of them had been published with Rabbi Shitrit’s careful oversight.

"Rabbi Shitrit, a gentle Torah scholar, didn’t grow up immersed in Torah. He was raised in a religious family, served as an officer in the Israeli army until he was 26, and worked in the fields of computers and technology before eventually returning to a life centered around Torah.

"He first met Rabbi Ovadia while he was engaged to be married. 'I was learning at Tiferet Shraga in Kiryat Noar,' Rabbi Shitrit told me. 'The Rabbi had just finished his term as Chief Rabbi of Israel. I went to his house on Jabotinsky Street in Jerusalem and asked him if he would officiate my wedding. And he agreed.'

"'Did he know you beforehand?' I asked him. 'No. I simply invited him and he came. He led my wedding even though his hand was in a cast. Just before the wedding, he had gone to get a book from a high shelf. He climbed up a ladder and got caught up in the learning and completely forgetting he was on a ladder. When he finished reading, he put the book back, forgot where he was and fell. He broke his arm...'

Even on his wedding night, Shitrit couldn’t help but notice the Rabbi’s legendary dedication to Torah. 'It was important to him to finish the wedding ceremony quickly so he could return to his learning,' he recalls, his voice full of emotion.

"Family purity, faith and a child was born"

Rabbi Shitrit shared a remarkable story: "A wealthy couple from the U.S. had been waiting many years for a child. They came to visit the Rabbi at his home. He welcomed them warmly and told them: 'If you begin keeping the laws of family purity (taharat hamishpacha), then, with Hashem’s help, you will be granted a child.'

"Before they left, the couple said: 'We also want to visit Rabbi Kaduri (a well-known kabbalist).' Rabbi Ovadia gently said, 'It’s better not to go.'

"After they left, he explained to us why. 'If they are blessed with a child, they’ll believe it was because of the kabbalist’s blessing. And then they might not keep the mitzvah of family purity.'

"And of course," Shitrit continues, "about a year later, they were blessed with a baby boy."

"How did the Rabbi view miracles?" I asked Rabbi Shitrit.

He smiled and answered with another story: "A student once came to the Rabbi’s house with his daughter, who had recently gotten engaged. He excitedly told the Rabbi that just three weeks earlier, she had received a blessing from him to find her match soon and now it had come true.

"The Rabbi’s reply was humble: 'So what? What, do you want to turn me into a miracle worker? It was probably a good time and that’s why the blessing worked.'

"But he was a man of wonders," Kook concludes. "In his life, in his death, and above all, in his Torah. We were blessed to live in the same generation as this extraordinary genius. Who can ever replace him?"